Neighborhood of Freaks
by bubble pop girl
Summary: Yumi Ishiyama is the new kid on the block. Thanks to all the wierd actions of everone around her, though, she starts to become worried. Can her new friends help her survive in this neighborhood of freaks? YxU JxA OxS
1. Chapter One: Leaving the Past

**Preface**

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little scared. No matter how much I try to deny it, there is just something about the prospect of a new school that scares me. Don't get me wrong, I love school, I'm just a quiet soul, slightly weird, but nothing too bad. My mom used to tell to me about how I would sit in our yard when I was little and just watch the cars pass. I don't really remember why I did it, I guess people just interest me, the way they pass the world by, without ever giving a second glance to the simple things they drive next to, to busy wrapped up in their own lives, no doubt. But that was back before my dad left us, before my mom stopped looking her own children in the face, and before my brother and I had to move, to Kadic, of all places.

**Chapter 1**

The summer before my 9th grade year is when everything changed. I don't know why it happened, or what triggered it, but Dad was angry, really angry, angrier then I had ever seen him. I was in my room when I heard our front door slam open. It startled me, but I wasn't too alarmed; Dad had a tendency to come home drunk. However, that night was different, he didn't stomp up to his room and slam the door behind him like he usually did on days when he stayed too late at the bar. That night he stopped.

Mom was in the kitchen, preparing for dinner, when my dad came home. I heard them start to argue. I didn't think much of it, couples fight, right? Then things started to get a little scary. I heard glass shatter against the floor, cabinets slam, the situation was getting serious. My door crept open and I could see my little brother's frightened face peering through the doorway. I knew he was on the brink of tears, so I quickly signaled him into my room, where he ran straight into my arms, burying his face into my shoulder.

It took about half an hour, but things had finally started to calm down. Hiroki was now fast asleep, with his head resting against my tear-soaked shoulder. I knew things were still going on downstairs, but I felt it was safe enough to step out of my room. As quietly as I could, I carried Hiroki down the hall to his bed and tucked him in. It amazed me how light he was, but then again, he was always small for his age, such a tiny 6th grader. I was so exhausted, I could hear my dad tumbling up the stairs. I decided I would sleep in Hiroki's room, just for the night. Everything would go back to normal in the morning, I hoped.

X

Sadly, nothing had gone back to normal. When I woke up, Dad was gone, along with all of his stuff, and half the money in my parent's joint bank account. My mom was a sloping, slobbery heap of tears on the couch. I could tell Hiroki was trying to comfort her, but to no avail.

For the next week, everyone in our house seemed to be in mourning. We needed to leave, and everyone knew it. My mom decided that we were to move out as soon as possible, but we weren't going to sell the house. My mom was still holding on to the slim hope that my dad would come back.

Two weeks after the fight, we had found a house and were all packed up and ready to move. The house was a huge Victorian style, hard to believe we could afford it. I was ready to start new. I helped mommy carry the bags out of the car and into the living room. The movers had gotten here a little earlier, so all of our furniture was already here. I took a couple bags of my things and ran upstairs to check out my new room. I climbed the dusty stairs up to the top floor, where our bedrooms were located.

My room was simple; tan wallpaper, a small bed, and a old, grimy dresser. There was also a huge set of Victorian windows that led out onto a beautiful balcony. I stood in the middle of the room, running my hand through my short, shoulder-length hair, and open the dresser door to the left. It was dusty, like the rest of the house, but I liked it. I took a few paces back, to where I was standing in the middle of the room again. I sneezed, and a cloud of dust flew into my eyes like the soldiers in a war. I ran to the closest window, and flung the curtains open.

The suns harsh rays momentarily blinded me, but after a few seconds I was able to gain back my composure. The window was facing the side of the house, so I had an up close view and personal view of my new neighbor's house. Just the kind of view I had been hoping for, not.

I opened up the large windows and stepped out onto the small, decorative railing of my balcony, letting the fresh air fill my lungs. It felt good, having the early July sun pounding down on my face, and the slight breeze blowing through my tousled hair. It felt like I had stood there for an eternity, but, of course, something had to interrupt my peace. It was a small, repetitive sound, but it was annoying the shit out of me. The worst part was, it was coming from the room straight across from mine.

Reluctantly, I opened my eyes. A decision I instantly regretted, forgetting how bright the summer sun could actually be. I squinted for a few seconds before I was able to get used to the blinding rays. Then, I lowered my head to find the source of incredibly irritating noise. Standing there, completely oblivious to everything, was a small, pink haired girl, who was mindlessly drumming her delicate fingers along the railing of her balcony.

"Hey," I shouted to her, but she still wasn't paying attention. "HEY," I screamed a little louder, hoping she'd hear me this time around. I wasn't sure if she had heard me, or if she had just gotten that feeling I always get when someone stares at me for too long. The girl looked up, and then removed a previously hidden headphone from her ear.

"Who are you?" she asked, confusion flowing through her voice. The directness of her question took me back a little. She didn't seem like a very direct type of person. It was almost intimidating.

"Um, hi. My name's Yumi. I just moved here." I really was not in the mood to have a long, uncomfortable discussion with this girl.

"Oh right, I heard we were getting new neighbors. I'm Aelita Hopper." She gave me a huge smile and walked closer to the edge of her balcony, leaning against the railing. "Gosh, it'll be good to have another girl my age in the neighborhood. Being the only girl in a group of guys isn't as fun as it sounds." She winked playfully at me, and I laughed awkwardly.

"You're the only girl?" I asked, out of pure politeness.

"Not exactly, just the only girl anyone in this neighborhood anyone can stand." I wasn't sure how to respond, so I just nodded my head in agreement. "Yeah. So what's your story? You got any brothers or sisters?" She asked, seeming more intrigued in the conversation then I was.

"Yeah, I have a little brother named Hiroki. I love him and all, but he can be such a brat sometimes." I told her

"I know whatcha' mean."

"You have a little brother too?"

"Well, kinda," she said "You see, my dad travels a lot, so I live here with my aunt Susan and her son Odd. He's the same age as me, but he acts like a gigantic kid sometimes. He should be back any second. I'm sure he'd love to meet a cutie like you."

I blushed. I was never good around the opposite sex. Boys always made me feel nervous and unsteady. That makes my experience in the dating department little to none. So the idea of living next to a boy my age is almost scary.

"He's a real Casanova. I swear he goes through at least ten girls a week."

"Where is he now?" I asked

"He's at his friend Ulrich's house. He actually lives in the other house next to you."

Great, another boy living next to me. That's exactly what I need.

Then I heard a knock coming from inside Aelita's house.

"Hey, open up," came an unknown voice from the other side of her bedroom's door.

"Speak of the devil." Aelita said, jumping down from the railing She opened the large, half-sized windows and climbed inside. "Wait here," she instructed me.

I could here voices from inside, but I couldn't make them out, and the room was to dark to see inside, so I was left outside, trying to gather my thoughts on the new living situation. If anything, at least it seems that I have somewhat of a new friend here. Not such a bad start, I suppose.

I waited there for a good five minutes before I saw Aelita's head stick through the open windows. "Hey Yumi, do you want to come over? You can meet your new neighbors." She said, motioning me to come toward her with her hands.

"Um, sure, let me just go tell my mom." I told her.

"Okay, I'll meet you in your front yard." Aelita said with a large smile. She must like people. She's so upbeat it's scary, but she seems nice enough.

"Okay," I told her before climbing through the window. I ran through the bare room and flung myself down the steep stairway.

"Mom!" I called out running from room to room, searching for her.

"I'm in the kitchen." I jogged to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway to catch my breath. "What's wrong?" she asked, chopping vegetables on the granite counter tops. It's just like my mom to go through all this fighting and moving chaos, and the first thing she has to do is fix us nice, traditional dinner.

"Is it okay if I go over to the neighbors house for a bit?" I asked, still out of breath.

"Sure, be back by dinner time." She answered, not looking up from the sharp knife she was diligently moving across the counter top. She stopped caring what I did once my dad left us. I knew she had bigger things on her mind. I was out the door and flying across the bright green lawn, towards Aelita's house in less then two seconds. It was that moment I realized how lucky I was to find someone here so quickly. I definitely need someone to talk to, just to get my mind off things.


	2. Chapter Two: Let's Meet the Gang

Surprisingly, I wasn't as nervous as I had expected to be about meeting the boys Aelita had told me about. I mean I wasn't hyperventilating or freaking out so I guess that's a good sign… or, at least, I hoped it was. Running out the front door, I saw Aelita waiting for me beside my mailbox, again with her earplugs stuck in her ears and her head nodding to, what I assumed, was the songs beat. Looking up, she gave me a huge, comforting smile, and started to turn off the device in her hand.

"Do you always listen to that thing?" I asked her, giggling slightly, in spite of myself.

"Pretty much, it gets on my aunt's nerves so badly, because I usually can't hear her when she calls for me, but then I say sorry and remind of something bad Odd's done. That usually gets me off the hook pretty easily."

Again, I laughed. Aelita really was someone who was easy for me to be around. I knew she was going to be an amazing friend. We walked up the stairs of her front porch and into a wide open hallway that lead into the rest of the house. I noticed the colors were very neutral, like beige, gold, and white. Everything just seemed to shimmer in the glow of the small chandelier hanging on the ceiling. I loved it; it was so modern, yet homey. I felt like I could just stay here for the rest of my life and be happy.

I guess Aelita noticed my slightly awestruck look, because she coughed slightly and turned her gaze towards me. "Yeah, Susan loves to decorate, she's not really one to just sit around and do nothing, and she just lost her job a few months ago, so I guess decoration's her new 'thing'." I don't know what made me think this, I guess it might have been the tone of her voice, but she seemed almost resentful when talking about her aunt.

"Come on, let's get up stairs." She said, "The boys were ecstatic when I told them about you." She then proceeded to sprint up the spiral staircase.

That had done it, I was officially nervous, my breath hitched and I had to grab onto the side table to keep my balance. '_Calm down Yumi, you can do this. They're just boys, they're the same as girls, except, you know, completely different.'_ Well, that thought didn't really help. I was finally able to regain my composure and follow Aelita up the stairs, but at a slightly slower pace.

By the time I had reached the second level, she was already down the other end of the walkway, standing inside the door frame waiting for me. '_Wow, Aelita wasn't kidding when she said she never_ _stops listening to that thing'_ I thought noticing the iPod stuck in her ears, again, and her bubblegum pink hair falling into wisps in front of her face.

I walked up to her and stopped. She looked at me with a strange look; her green eyes hardening for a moment before her whole face softened. The look she gave me was very strange but I decided to ignore it and just follow her into the room.

When I first looked around the room I was totally taken aback. Unlike the rest of the house, this room had nothing neutral about it. Everything, the walls, the bed, the carpet, everything was bright. There was an array of pinks, purples, and oranges scattered throughout the room. "So this is your room?" I asked, turning towards Aelita. Apparently, I had paid too much attention to the room, that I didn't notice the two guys sitting on the far side of the wall near a small wooden desk, but I certainly noticed them when one, along with Aelita, started laughing hysterically.

"HEY!" yelled one of the boys, the one that wasn't falling on the floor laughing. "I take offence to that. My room is NOT girlie." Okay, I admit, that got me rolling two, of course his outfit didn't help the matter either, I could definitely see how this was his room. He was dressed as if his room had thrown up on him, literally. And his hair was just as strange, with blonde hair piled on his head like an upside down ice cream cone, plus, it had a big purple dot right in the middle.

Everyone seemed to have recovered from the excessive laughter, so now all eyes were on me. Aelita, noticing this, went towards the boys and proceeded to make introductions.

"Yumi, this is Ulrich," she told me, pointing towards the boy that had been laughing with me. He was dressed in a light green tank top and with a dark green over shirt and some light brown cargo pants. I guess he saw me looking at him, because he gave me the most dazzling smile I've ever seen. Shyly, I smiled back. "And this," she called, grabbing my attention again, "is my, slightly crazy, cousin Odd. Boys this is Yumi."

"Hi." I said softly. I didn't know what else to say. I was so thankful that Odd took over the conversation after that.

"Hey there, pretty lady," he said, sticking a hand towards me. Cautiously, I took it. "My name is Odd Della-Robia! You could say I'm a bit of the neighborhood hunk." He said, giving me a flirty smile and a small wink, which caused me to blush profusely.

"Um, Odd, don't you have date with Emily this Friday," replied Ulrich, a slight smirk hinting at his lips. As Odd yelled something to Ulrich about how the date's with Claire and is on Saturday, Aelita came up behind me and whispered "Ignore him, he does this with every girl, I wouldn't get involved with him if I was you." I didn't have the heart to tell her that there was absolutely no chance of that.

While Aelita was whispering to me, the boys had finished their conversations and their attentions were, yet again, focused on me. God, I hated situations like this, I never had any idea what to say around new people. Suddenly, I heard a small, yelping coming from under the covers of the bed.

"Kiwi," shouted Odd, reaching beneath the sheets and grabbing this small, pale, thing. A few seconds later I realized it was a dog and immediately went over to pet it.

"He is so cute." I cooed, rubbing Kiwi's tummy, and scratching behind his ear. "How long have you had him?"

"I've had him for about 3 years now, and I swear, no one gives him enough credit on how smart he is." Odd said defensively, looking towards Aelita, who was smiling innocently.

I heard Ulrich start chuckling beside me "Yeah, Kiwi could probably do Odd's homework better then Odd could if he had thumbs to write with." He murmured to me, causing me to laugh. He gave me a heart-warming smile, "You have a nice laugh." My heart stopped. My face burned with a mixture of nervousness and embarrassment. I didn't think I could stand me so close to him anymore, so I walked back over to where Aelita was standing and tried to forget about the gorgeous boy who was staring a hole in my back.

Odd and Ulrich started whispering to each other, and once I was sure neither of them were paying enough attention to me to over hear what I was saying, I started talking to Aelita.

"So, how do you like it here so far?" She looked anxious, I don't care how confident she acted, underneath it all, she cared just as much as I did about people liking her.

"Well, you all are definitely a lot nicer then some people I know. Thanks, again, ya' know, for letting me come over and all. I needed some thing to get my mind off of all the stress."

"It's no problem, like I said, we needed another girl in the group anyway. And I know what you mean, I get so stressed whenever I have to move somewhere new." She really had no idea about the kind of stress I was going through, and I was content at keeping it like that. No one needed to know why I came here.

Suddenly I heard a door slam downstairs, and heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. Without warning, the door to Odd's room flung open and a women with light blonde hair and a maroon business suit on stood in the doorway looking extremely angry. "AELITA, ODD, YOU TWO ARE IN SO….." and then her eyes met mine, and all hell broke loose.


	3. Chapter Three: All I Want to do is Relax

All I wanted to do was relax, and nothing was as relaxing to me as a nice, hot bubble bath. . . But since Hiroki, and Mom wanted to take baths at the same time, that wasn't possible, so I settled for the next best thing, my bed.

I curled up into a little ball, bringing my knees up to my chest and wrapping the cover as tightly around me as I could. It had been SUCH a long day. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, and it's so much better then where we used to live, but it still feels weird. I mean, first, I meet 3 new people, two of which are of the male gender, and I'm instantly 'in'. I have NEVER been 'in' with anyone in my life. It's not that I'm a loner, people just don't see things the way I do, and because of that I'm always instantly labeled as 'the weird girl'.

We were all having a good time just laughing, and joking around when suddenly the door opens. Excuse me, I meant slams so hard against the wall that it almost leaves a hole, and a beautiful women walks in looking more mad then I think I've ever seen anyone in my entire life. It was scary.

She saw me, and the next thing I knew, there was screaming, cussing, arm-flailing, and every other way of expressing anger you could possibly think of without it actually BEING violent. She was screaming at Odd and Aelita for the most part, but she seemed pretty pissed at Ulrich too.

I just stood back and let them handle. I mean, I don't know this woman, so there's no reason for her to be mad at me, right? I had heard the name Susan called out many times in this incident, and came to the conclusion that she must be Odds mom, which seemed ridiculous! There was no way this women was older then 25, if that, and Odd is at least 14. It just wasn't all adding up, but before I had time to analyze it anymore, I noticed that Susan had turned to me.

"I'm sorry, um, Yumi is it? We're just having a little… family argument, you understand." Oh buddy did I. This was definitely not something I wanted to get dragged in the middle of. The last thing I needed was to be apart of someone else's family drama. I just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

"Oh, yea, of course."

"Well Odd and Aelita have gotten themselves in a little bit of trouble…again, so I'm afraid I'll have to send you and Ulrich home. Is that alright, dear?" I have no idea why she was asking me this, it was her house, and she had the right to kick me out if she wanted to. Maybe she was just being polite, but she kind of came off as being _too nice. _

"Um, no, it's fine. I guess I'll just be leaving now. Bye everyone." I waved goodbye and was about to walk out the bedroom door, when Ulrich spoke up.

"Hey, wait up, I'll walk home with you." He jumped off the bed with amazing grace, and then immediately slouched over and put his hand in his pockets. "See you guys later. Call me if you get the chance, kay?

"You got it Ulrich. See you guys later, and it was nice meeting you Yumi, hope we can hang out some time," said Aelita, smiling oddly at us. I know this must have been embarrassing for her. Hell, I'm embarrassed, and I don't even know these people. She reached out and gave me an awkward, one-armed hug. Once she let go I looked around for Ulrich and noticed he'd already left. '_Of course he left Yumi, why on earth would he wait around for you, he barely even knows you.'_

I would've been lying if I said I wasn't _slightly_ disappointed when I realized Ulrich wasn't waiting for me. I mean I know I'm awkward with boys and everything, but it still would've been nice to walk home with a really cute, funny, swe-

"Are you coming or not?" Ulrich head had just popped in the doorway. The way he said his statement was harsh, but the playful smile tugging at his lips told me he was only joking.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Don't get your panties in a twist." WOW, I can't believe I just said that… to a boy… whom I had just met. I wouldn't dream of having that much confidence with anyone else. It just seems everyone in this house (excluding Susan) is very mellow, and easy to talk to. It's hard to feel nervous around them. It's like, once you're in their presence, you're instantaneously at ease.

He chuckled slightly and turned away from me walking down the hall. I jogged up to him and then slowed, staying at his pace. We walked through the hallway and down the stairs in complete silence, which I was completely okay with. The less we speak the less of a chance there is that I'll verbally make a fool out of myself, right? Ulrich apparently didn't see it.

"Sorry about what happened back there," he said turning to me, a cringed look on his face. "She not usually like that, you know. I mean she's always a little… um… dramatic, but never like that. I can't IMAGINE what Odd and Aelita must have done to get her that mad. Well, I can imagine some things Odd's done but I have no idea what Aelitas deal is."

"Yeah, that was a little bit more then I was expecting from coming here, but it sure wasn't boring."

"You can say that again." I hadn't noticed, but somehow my feet had carried me all the way to the front of my house, stupid feet why couldn't they have moved any slower. "So, this your stop." He said cheekily.

He was so cute, and the little smirkish grin he seemed to have plastered to is face all the time just added to his boyish charm. "You got it. So I guess I'll see you around. Bye Ulrich." I had just turned away when I felt his hand on my elbow.

"Um, wait Yumi. I know we just met and all, but I was wondering, would you like to hang out sometime, like Friday?"

I tried to keep my cool, after all, he could have just meant everyone hanging out together, but, even with as little boy experience as I've had in the past, this sure sounded like a date. So, of course, I had to blush. "That'd be great!" I HATED the way my voice sounded when I said that. I sounded like one of those annoying girls off movies. You know the ones, blonde hair, blues eyes, seems like no matter how high their voice is, it just won't crack? Yeah, them.

"Okay cool." And with that he turned away and walked up to his porch, and inside his house.

So now, on Friday, I have a sort of/ maybe date. And if that isn't stressing enough, I've still got my whole summer reading list, all the family shit I have to be constantly reminded about, I have to unpack all my thing, AND I STILL HAVEN'T HAD MY BUBBLE BATH. That's it; I'm going to tell Hiroki if he's not out in 5 minutes I'm going to DRAG him out. Can no one around here see that I need to relax?


End file.
